Great Customer Service Critical During Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

I am just amazed at the poor service some Santa Clarita business's have. You would think with todays review sites and complaint sites that a local company would take great strides to provide excellent customer service.

As i write this, I have been waiting at home for a service technician to show up for some repairs. Instead of talking negatively about a fellow business in Santa Clarita, i thought i would share my thoughts on the topic of giving good customer service.

Here was what i was reminded of and what we should all be striving for.

First call to the office – When someone calls your place of business, this is your first chance to set the stage and let them know that they are working with true professionals. When you call our Santa Clarita divorce service, you will be greeted by one of our two full time receptionists. We know your decision to use our service or not starts from the time the phone rings.

Initial phone call and consultation – This is your time to shine. To provide information and answers that help your potential client “fix” whatever problem they are trying to solve.

When people call us, they have generally spent quite a bit of time on our blogs and have some follow up questions. We are an outbound marketing company which means we attract clients to our business by providing information on our blogs. This continues on when you call us. It is our job to provide you with all the information on how we can help with your divorce situation and not to try to “sell” or “close” you.

Follow up – Follow up is good way to continue your customer service. The type of service you offer will dictate what kind of follow up you do. We provide a divorce service and we are considerate and understanding that this is not a pleasant issue you are dealing with. Our follow ups are simple. We reach out via email to see if there are any additional questions.

We feel that great customer service is critical in any business to survive. But this should not be the reason you provide great service. You should simply provide a level of service you would expect if you were on the other end of the phone.

We are a divorce service. “service” being the operative word. We are here to serve you and help you through your divorce or other family law related issues.

How Long Do I Have To Serve Divorce Papers In Los Angeles

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

I get asked quite a bit, how long does someone have to serve divorce papers in Los Angeles after you have filed them? Is there a time limit by which you have to serve the papers?

The reason this is important to know is because you don't want the court dismissing the divorce case causing you to refile and to pay the filing fee again.

I did some research on the time limits regarding serving your divorce papers and this is what I found.

I found that there is no real time limit to serve your divorce papers. Some attorneys have said that in California the time frame is anywhere between 2 to 3 years and if nothing is done within 5 years the court will automatically dismiss the case.

But there is one thing to watch out for that we are seeing in the Los Angeles divorce courts. We have had a few clients who have filed for divorce then decided to wait for whatever reason. Perhaps they were not 100% sure or wanted the holidays to pass, etc.

What has happened is the courts are setting Case Management Conferences for those who have not served the divorce papers within 3 to 4 months. The case management conferences are nothing to be concerned with as the court just wants to see what is going on.

The letter you receive in the mail may even go as far as to say that you need to appear at the case management conference or risk having your case dismissed. They may even state that you need to have you divorce papers served prior to attending the case management conference.

It is important to keep in mind that if you file for divorce and then don't serve them on your spouse for whatever reason that the court may send a letter in the mail. If you have not served your spouse, you probably have not told them you filed for divorce.

Imagine your spouse finding out you filed for divorce 3 months ago and the reason you did not serve them was because things had taken a turn for the better. Now what if your spouse opens this letter from the court? You will probably have a lot of explaining to do.

Filing Contempt For Your Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

What is contempt of court. In laymen terms it simply means that the judge signed an order and one of the parties is not complying with the judges order.

in divorce cases, this can be a temporary order or permanent order. Lets talk about how to file a motion for contempt when one of the spouses does not comply with the final judgment in the divorce.

I recently helped a client do exactly this. Let me give you a little background. The divorce was finalized more than 2 years ago. This was a stipulated agreements (both parties agreed at the time) to everything in the order. The Judge's signature only made if official.

The orders in the judgment covered everything regarding the disposition of assets and debts as well as orders pertaining to their children such as child support, etc.

In this case the spouse ordered to pay spousal support had not done so for quite some time and our client was left helpless not knowing what to do.

Prior to hiring our company to file for contempt, he wanted to first try it on his own. So he went to the self help center in downtown LA's Central court. He explained what was happening and they said he needed to file an Order To Show Cause and Affidavit for Contempt.

They gave him the form, he filled it out, signed it and filed it with the court. The problem is that there is much more to do than just filling out the application. He had missed providing all the other attachments and proof of missed payments and a declaration stating the facts and why his spouse is in contempt.

If you are going to file an affidavit for contempt on your divorce, make sure to fill out the correct forms, check the correct boxes and follow the instructions. You can find many of the instructions online, but it can be a little tricky. Especially making sure that you list each and every missed payment as each one counts as a contempt charge.

 

Should You Sign Divorce Papers You Have Been Mailed – Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

So there is a lot of confusing about divorce, that much we can agree on. That is why i write all these articles on divorce and record videos. It is all about getting information out there to lessen the confusion.

Today we are talking about what you should do if you are mailed divorce papers and asked to sign for them. The reason we are explaining this is because people think that if they sign papers they received, that it means that they agree. This is not true.

What we are talking about here is the very first papers filed in a divorce. These first document have to be personally served on your spouse. But there is a way that you can simply mail the forms to your spouse if they are willing to sign a document which says they received them.

But here is the problem. Spouses receive the divorce documents and think by signing anything that they are agreeing to what is contained in the divorce papers. This could not be further from the truth.

The form we are talking about here is the notice of acknowledgment of receipt. It is a form one signs to acknowledge having received the paperwork. It says nothing to the effect that by signing you agree to anything. In fact, it says right on the form that this is not a response form and if you disagree with anything in the divorce papers you were served, that you need to file a response.

Let me help drive this point home. I previously stated that these initial divorce documents normally have to be served. So if your spouse hires a process server and has someone hand deliver them to you, does that mean you agree to what is contained in the divorce papers? Of course not.

Signing the notice of acknowledgment of receipt is not different. The only reason not to sign that you received the divorce papers is to be difficult. At least that is what i tell my clients when they say their spouse won't sign indicating they received the papers.

If people would just take a few seconds to actually read the forms they will realize that what i am saying it true.

 

Divorce Forms You Have To Complete After Hearing – Santa Clarita

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Lately, I have had a lot of clients go to court for hearings to get some temporary orders. There are certain forms one has to complete after a hearing and wanted to discuss that with you.

When you go to court and ask the judge to make orders, say on a request for order, if order are made, you will have to fill out what is called an order after hearing.

An order after hearing is exactly what it sounds like… An order after the hearing. This is where you will fill out the form and indicate what orders the court made so the judge can sign it and make is official.

So here is how it works You go to court. The judge makes orders. Then these orders have to be placed on the order after hearing forms. Sounds easy, but there are some rules on how to do this which I will explain now.

Once the hearing is over, you will need to obtain a copy of the minute order. The minute order contains the information you will need and is a summary of what was ordered at your hearing. Usually, this will take about 3 days for the clerk to enter so you will have to go back to court to get it.

Once you have the minute order, you can complete the order after hearing. The order after hearing form has several attachments depending on what was ordered so make sure to check the appropriate boxes and attach the correct forms.

Then what you have to do is mail the order after hearing to the other party who needs to review it and sign it. They have 10 days to sign it or otherwise tell you there is something wrong with the language. Once it is agreed and the other party signs the order after hearing, it can be submitted to the judge for signature. Once the judge signs it, it will become an official order.

 

Does Signing The Divorce Petition Mean I Agree | Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

There is a huge misunderstanding about a part of the divorce process that I want to clear up.  This is in regards to the California Divorce Petition and the requests you make.

The Petition is a form you will complete when you file for divorce.  It lets the court and the other party know what your are requesting.  Again, it simply tells the court what you are requesting.  They are not orders.

An issue we have been having is when we mail the Petition to the other party and ask them to sign a form acknowledging that they received the Petition.  Doing this helps us to avoid having to hire a process server.  When you sign the acknowledgment, it simply means that you received that divorce papers, not that you agree to the what is in the Petition or remainder of the divorce papers.

We recently mailed out some divorce papers to the respondent in a divorce case.  After the Respondent received the papers, he called the Petitioner and said he is not signing the papers because he does not agree with what the Petitioner is asking for.

So what are the options when this happens.  Well, the first thing you can do is attempt to explain it to them.  But it is unlikely that your spouse will listen to you since you are going through a divorce in the first place, but you can try.

The next thing I would try to do is have them get the answer from someone who is not involved.  Have them go to the court and ask the self help center if signing the acknowledgement of receipt means that you agree with what is in the petition.

If none of these work, then you will simply have to hire a process server to do it.  And again, just because the process server hands them paperwork does not mean they agree with what is in the petition either.

How To Complete Fee Waiver For Your Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

We have been helping a lot of folks over the last few weeks going through divorce in Santa Clarita to get fee waivers so they can avoid paying the filing fee for divorce.

The courts allow you to apply for a fee waiver if you meet certain requirements. Watch this short video which will explain more about fee waivers.

The courts provide a few different ways you can qualify for a fee waiver. Some are automatic qualifiers and others need to be decided by the court. Let's talk about a few of these.

When you are filling out the fee waiver request, the first way you can qualify is if you are one some type of government financial assistance. So if you are receiving food stamps, SSI, on welfare or most any other type of assistance, you will qualify for the free waiver. I am not exactly sure why, but my instinct tells me that if you are receiving these types of assistance, your income is obviously low and has been verified by some government agency.

The next way you can qualify is if your household income falls below the minimums as indicated on the fee waiver application. If so, simply mark the box that applies.

If you don't qualify under these first two options, you can apply by indicating that, despite having an income, that you cannot afford to pay the filing and pay your bills.

Essentially, you will have to complete a short financial declaration that will show your income, persons who lives with you and assets and debts. You will have to go into the courtroom and see the clerk and possibly the judge. They will review your fee waiver application and either approve it, deny it or allow you to make payments on the filing fee so you can file your divorce case.

 

Divorce Motions, Response And Reply Tips | Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

We talk a lot about how to file motions, request for orders and order to show cause filings quite a bit.  We also, of course, provide this as one of our divorce services here in Santa Clarita.

In this article, and videos below, we are going to talk about the three components of filing these types of motions along with the due dates you have to follow and how to file and serve them.  We will go into great detail about how to file the motion and how to respond to one if a motion has been filed on you.

In this video below we will talk about the due dates and how to file and serve a motion such as a request for order or order to show cause.  The first thing you will do is prepare your motion and then file it with the court.  You have to file it and get a court date before you can serve it.  Here is the rule.  You have to personally serve your motion 16 COURT days before the hearing date.  If you are going to mail it you need to add 5 calendar days.

Watch this quick video where I discuss the procedure of filing and serving a motion as well as the due dates in which to serve them.

Now that you understand the process of filing a motion and the respective due dates for serving it, let’s talk about what you do if you have received a motion and you need to reply to one.

When someone files a motion and serves you, you have an opportunity to file a response.  Your response will be to tell your side of the story and whether your agree, disagree or would like different orders made than requested by the moving party or person who filed the motion.

The responsive declaration also has to be done within a certain period of time just like the original motion.  So for the responsive declaration to a motion you have to file and personally serve 9 COURT days before the hearing.  Why do I keep emphasizing court days?  Because you have to be careful and check for court holidays and skip the weekends.  It could be as much as 15 days before the hearing with court holidays and weekends involved so make sure you check.  I get a lot of people who call me to file a response and it is already too late.

Watch this quick video about filing the responsive declaration.

Now, there is just one last thing to discuss and that is the Reply Declaration.  The Reply is what the person who filed the motion will do.  It is their last chance to get the final say of what their position is in regards to why the judge should make the order that they requested.  The Reply Declaration needs to be filed and served 5 COURT days before the hearing.

Here is a quick video discussing the reply declaration.

So just to recap, you first have the original Motion followed by the Responsive Declaration and then the Reply Declaration.

We can help you prepare and file your motion, responsive declaration and reply declaration in Los Angeles County.  We specialize in divorce and can help you prepare an attorney quality declaration for your divorce case.

Do You Need A Divorce Minute Order | Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

What is a divorce minute order, when will you need one and how do you get one.  All that and more is answered by the article by Tim Blankenship with https://divorce661.com and discussed in the below video.

First off, let’s talk about what a divorce minute order is. A minute order is simply the court clerks detailed notes of what happened in a hearing or trial.  So you won’t have a minute order unless you have been to court.  So if you have had a trial or hearing and need to know what orders the court made on that date, you would get a copy of the minute order.

Now, why would you need one?   Most people will never need a minute order, but there are circumstances where you will.  One such circumstance is if you go to a hearing at divorce court asking the judge to make order after you had filed a motion.  So let’s say you filed a motion for spousal support or child support, the hearing was held and the judge made orders.

If you are representing yourself, the judge may ask you to prepare what is called an Order After Hearing.  It essentially is a “Order… After… The hearing.  You have to type of the order of the court and would use the minute order to get the exact language of what the judge ordered during the hearing.  When you submit the order after hearing back to the court for the judge’s signature, they will verify the language of the order matched that of the minute order.

In the video above we go into a little more detail about how to complete the order after hearing, but that will be for another blog post and another video down the road.

Now, now to you get a minute order.  This is quite simple.  All you need to do is go to the court room your case was heard in (if it was recent) and give the court clerk the date of the hearing and request the minute order.  If it has been several weeks and there are no future hearings, your file may have made it back to the storage area, in which case you would request it from the court clerk’s office.

We specialize in divorce in Los Angeles County and are centrally located in Santa Clarita, CA.  Please give us a call if you would like to learn more about our divorce services.

Need A Divorce Attorney In Santa Clarita? Start Your Divorce With Us Anyways

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

We have been working on getting the word out that you can still use our divorce document preparation service in Santa Clarita even if you know you will later need a divorce attorney in Santa Clarita.  In fact, it might be one of the smartest decisions you make during your divorce.

You see, when you start your divorce, essentially it is simply a lot of paperwork.  I say simply, with a grain of salt.  What I mean to say is that it does not take a divorce attorney to complete these initial set of divorce documents for you.  In fact, none of the divorce documents have to be completed by a divorce attorney.   It just takes a company like us that specializes in divorce preparation to take care of it for you.

So what we want to impress upon you is two things. First, if you absolutely without a doubt will need an attorney for one reason or another, why not start the divorce with out and save a ton of money.  No need to involve an attorney from the beginning if it is just paperwork, right?   Were not saying don’t consult with an attorney, but you should understand when you need an attorney and when you don’t.

The other thing we wanted to say regarding this was to those folks who start with us and then later needed to hire an attorney.  This happens as well.  People call us and start working with our divorce service in Santa Clarita and then something goes sideways and they need an attorney.  This is okay too?

I tell people that fall into either of these two situations that even if they ultimately need a divorce attorney after using our services, they have already saved countless thousands of dollars in the process by not using a divorce attorney up to this point.  It is a win-win either way.

We are headquartered in Santa Clarita and provide a superior divorce service.  We are here to assist you with your divorce either before, during or after you have hired and attorney.  Call us for more information.